Memory
by AcquiredMadness
Summary: "Some of your best memories will come from some of your most foolish decisions." Romeo and Juliet, Rose and Jack, all four of them made foolish decisions. But, they were left with a memory of a lifetime. I actually used to think they were fools until...I became just like them. [Sparia One shot turned Multi-Chapter/AU]
1. Saturday: Corner Store

**A quick, Sparia one-shot prompt I decided to do.** **What happens when Mike asks Aria to pick something up for him during a quick store hop?**

Saturday: Corner Store

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Picking Mike up from a late movie with his friends, Aria pulls her grey 2012 Nissan Altima into an open parking space at their local Walgreens to pick up something before they head home. Aria puts the car into park and turns to look at Mike who is sitting in the passenger, on his phone.

"Do you want anything while I'm in there?"

"Uh, yeah. A pack of red bulls and some twizzlers would be good." Mike responds to Aria's request.

Aria nods her head as she takes the keys out of the ignition and opens her car door to leave,

With a foot out the car, Mike calls out the brunette's name. "Aria."

She leans back inside the car and looks to him.

"Yeah?"

"I-I need you to get something else for me…" Mike shifts uncomfortably in his seat as he lays his phone down on his leg.

"What's up?" Aria asks, not catching on to Mike's uneasiness.

"…I need you to get me….a box."

"A box of what?" Aria questions with an eyebrow raised. A split second later it hits her. "Mike, are you _smoking_?" She quickly asks as she shuts her car door.

"Nonono!" Mike re-positions himself in his chair, waving his hands, dismissing Aria's misread of what he means. "I need a box…of-of condoms…"

Aria's eyes widen in shock, "Condoms?! What do you need condoms for?"

"Well, you use them when you-"

"I know what you use them for, Mike!" Aria closes her eyes as she waves her hand to stop him from talking. "I mean _why_ do you need them? Who are you using them with?" Aria looks up and down at her brother in full inspection mode.

"…Mona…" Mike lets the name escape his mouth slowly as he looks away from Aria's intense staring.

"Moooona?" Aria drags out her name as she crosses her arms. "Since when have you and Mona been active?"

"I don't know, _mom_." Mike mocks, irritated by Aria's sudden game of 21 questions.

"You don't kno-Ok. If you want them, come and buy them yourself." Aria opens her car door and proceeds to get out.

"Aria, wait!" Mike calls out, making Aria stop midway leaving. "Can you _please_ get them for me?" Mike now begs, "I can't go in there. What if the cashier looks at me weird?"

"Oh, like they won't look at _me_ weird." Aria points at herself. "It's better for a guy to buy a box of condoms rather than a girl buying them. You guys are supposed to do that so it'll look normal. Let's go." Aria gets out of the car and stands by the car door.

"Let's go!" She gestures Mike out of the car.

"Aria, please." Mike pleads as he continues to stay seated. "I hardly ask you for _anything_." He immediately reaches inside his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. He skims over his bills until he finds a twenty. "Here." He hands Aria the $20 bill, "If they ask you, just tell them it's for your brother in the car."

Aria reluctantly takes the bill with a sigh and rolled eyes. "I don't even wanna ask you this question…"

"What question?" Mike looks at his sister as he lifts his body up, shoving his wallet back into his back pocket.

" _You_ know what question."

"No seriously, I don't." Mike furs his eyebrows in confusion.

"The size, Mike. The size." Aria says as she annoyingly looks out into the parking lot, hating every bit of this conversation.

"Uhmmm…." Mike ponders for a second, "…I don't know."

Aria shoots a look at Mike as she leans her head inside the car, "What do you mean you don't know?"

Mike shrugs, "I don't know! Maybe a medium?"

Aria closes her eyes and hangs her head, "You so owe me for this." She goes to close the door before Mike calls out her name again.

"What else do you want from me?" Aria asks bothered. "You want me to buy you the lube too?" She sarcastically questions.

"…Do you think we would need that?" Mike, going to ask a different question but now thinking about a new product he might need.

"I'm not doing this - I'm _sooo_ not doing this." Aria puts her hands up in surrender mode. "Where's the white flag because I'm going to _throw_ it at you."

"I was just going to ask if you can grab a certain kind. I heard the guys talking about one called ' _Durex_ _Sensation_ '? They were talking about it and they say it's really good."

"Well, don't you have _the guys_ come and buy for you if they know about it so well?" Aria crankily reacts. Mike opens his mouth but Aria stops him. "I'll be back." She groans as she shuts the car door.

 _You've got to be kidding me, right now._

With a shopping basket filled with Red Bull, Twizzlers, and Ben Jerry's Ice Cream hanging off the crease of her left arm, Aria skims the condom section of the 'Personal Care' aisle.

 _Durex Sensation…Durex Sensation…Durex Sensation…_ Aria searches for the product. She finds it but only in large and XL. She makes a face as she continues to look. After a few moments, there was no prevail.

 _Either, I buy a large and he's just gonna have to work with it or I find something else_ , Aria debates in her head. _I'll buy something else. I'm not going to be responsible for any mishaps that happens._

Searching through the mediums, Aria pulls out a box.

 _Durex Extra Safe…Yeah. This sounds like the perfect one he needs_ , she thinks as she reads over the box.

"For those who want peace of mind knowing the condom they're using is safe." Aria mutters to herself. "Yep. This is fine." She opens the lid of the box to check inside before she turns on her heels and walks towards checkout.

Holding the box in one hand and scrolling through her phone in the other, Aria quickly turns the corner of the aisle and bumps into another customer walking in. The sudden collision causes the 'not so closed all the way' Extra Safe condom box to fly out of Aria's hand and into the air, causing 12 greyish-blue packets to rain all over the two.

O _H MY GOD!_

In total mortification, Aria quickly kneels to the floor to pick up all the packets as fast as she could. The other girl Aria ran into bends down to help the struggling brunette pick up her belongings. She picks up a few before handing them to Aria who's putting them back inside the box in a frantic hurry. She stands up and shoves her hands into her jacket.

"Red bull, twizzlers, ice cream and extra safe condoms." Spencer observes, "Planning a great night tonight, huh?" Spencer teases as Aria rises to her feet.

Aria looks up at Spencer in complete embarrassment, "Uh-uhm, No. Nonono, these are for my brother. He-he's waiting inside the car." Aria stutters as she tries to convey to shopping arrangements to the girl in front of her.

"I-I wouldn't use these." Aria says as she puts the box into the basket.

"You don't use condoms?" Spencer raises a eyebrow.

"No! Not that I don't use them. More like I don't like them." Aria shuts her eyes immediately after the words leave her mouth and cringes as she knows that nothing she is saying sounds right.

"So you don't _like_ condoms." Spencer says as she confirms the smaller brunette's statement.

"Nono. I-" Aria leans into Spencer and whispers, "If you have anything sharp on you, could you just like…stab me in the heart so I could die?"

Spencer laughs at the humiliation Aria was facing before her. Aria turns her head away as she sways to the side.

"You laughing at me is so not helping. If anything, it's making it worse."

Spencer's laughter dies down into a soft smile. "I'm not laughing at _you_. I find you adorable, actually."

Aria glances back at Spencer, confused if she heard the taller brunette correctly.

" _Me_?"

" _Yeah_. That was kind of cute." Spencer gives a genuine closed mouth smile.

A slow curve of Aria's lips makes its way onto her face as she tucks in a strand of hair behind her ear, looking down at the floor.

"Thanks..."

Aria opens the driver's side door and throws the shopping bag at Mike as she enters the car.

"Whoa!" Mike yells out as he catches the bag that was hurled at him.

"I'm _never_ doing that again," Aria starts the ignition with a huff.

"Why? What happened?" he asks as he checks inside the bag to see what she purchased.

"I _embarrassed_ myself in there."

"How?" Mike asks pryingly, "Did someone say something to you?" he starts to get defensive as he shifts in his chair, facing Aria.

" **I'm not laughing at** ** _you_** **. I find you adorable, actually..."**

That sentence replays in Aria's head like a scratched record as she leans over her seat to face behind her, backing out of her parking space. When fully out, she faces the front and changes gears.

"No…" She slowly lets out before she turns to her brother, "But next time, if you want anything _remotely_ in that category or anything that could embarrass me, get it yourself."


	2. Monday: Gas Station Aisle

**So, originally, this was a one shot kind of story: Found a prompt, used a pairing that I liked and just ran with it. However, just living it as a one shot, due by public demand and a random bolt of inspiration from a melody, I'm going to farther this into a multi-chapter story.**

 **This will be an AU between the Sparia pairing. Aria is living her college life in Rosewood when she comes across an intriguing new visitor who goes by Spencer. Everything else just falls from there.**

 **Quick warning, this fic will not be drawn out and long. but rather short but packed.**

 **However, if it seems to be doing pretty well standing by itself, I'll see if it should be a continued story.**

 **I hope you enjoy the ride :)**

Monday: Gas Station Aisle

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Driving into a near gas station to fill up her vehicle that's riding on empty, Aria pulls up and parks into an open gas pump. She takes her keys out the ignition and hops out the car, making sure she takes a glance at the pump number before she walks into the store. The door beeps as Aria walks into the fairly air conditioned establishment, approaching the cashier.

"Hi, can I put $50 on pump 5, please?" Aria asks as she swings her purse from her shoulder to remove her wallet.

"Sure."

Skimming through her bills, the brunette draws out a fifty dollar bill and hands it to the male employee who then proceeds to put in her money's worth of gas. His computer generates a receipt that he rips out and gives to her. Aria nods her thank you and heads back out towards the exit. Right before she touches the handle, she pauses and mentally debates with herself if she should get a quick drink since she's already in. Seeing that would be the most logical, Aria turns back around and decides to go up the aisle towards the back where she's meet by a refrigerator filled with all kinds of beverages.

 _Soda…Soda….Soda…_

 _Juice…Lemonade….Ice tea…._

 _Red Bull…Monster…_

Looking through her options and the prices assigned to them, Aria notices the ICEE machine to the left corner of her.

 _Maybe a slushie is want I want…_

 _I'm getting a slushie._

Aria saunters over to the machine, grabs herself a large cup, and pauses at the two available flavors.

 _Blue Raspberry or Cherry…hmm….._

"Well, look what the cat drug in..." A voice sounds from the left side of Aria, causing her to twist her head in the said direction at the other shopper looking at two small boxes of medication in her grasps.

"If it isn't the _Extra Safe_ girl."

Aria throws her head back with an amused smile as she realizes she has encountered someone she rather have not giving their only interaction and how detrimental it was to her.

"The weather looks nice today. The forecast predicts a slim to none percent chance of raining rubber." Spencer continues on with a sly smile as she looks at Aria's pained expression.

"Can we just…." Aria turns her whole body in Spencer's direction, " _erase_ that memory out of the existence of the universe and start all over?"

"Sounds fair." The taller brunette nods her head in agreement as she looks back at the products in her hand, "What do they call you outside of my name for you?"

"Aria," Aria extends her hand for a shake.

"Spencer." Spencer grasps Aria's hand for a firm shake. "Your name…It's pretty."

"Thanks," Aria gives a tight smile back before looking down at her empty ICEE cup, " _So_...Are you from around here? Your face is pretty unfamiliar..."

"Yeah, no, I'm definitely a foreigner to the town of Rosewood. I'm just here on visitation."

"Oh, you have family here?" Aria walks over to the ICEE machine and pulls the lever down for _Blue Raspberry_ , all while her eyes are kept on the stranger.

"Nope," Spencer sets one product down, choosing the other as her choice, "On means of business. Meeting with representatives about boring political mumbo jumbo. _You_?" Spencer turns to face Aria, "How long have you lived here?"

"All my life. Moved to Iceland for a year then continued my stay here."

" _Iceland_?" Spencer's eyebrows shoot up as her lips are pushed out in astonishment, "Wow. Talk about adventurous."

"Yeah, definitely different than how we operate here," Aria releases the level as her cup was filled to the brim with blue slush. She reaches over to the side and grabs a cap and a straw, "But it was nice change of scenery."

"I bet it was." Spencer responds with a light, faint smle before she backs out of her aisle and walks towards the freezers Aria once stood before earlier. Aria looks towards the door at her car through the window then back at Spencer. She taps her pointer finger on her slushie cup as she pinched her lower lip.

" _Sooo_ ….do you like it here?" Aria slowly follows after Spencer but keeps a good distance apart as Spencer opens a freezer door and picks up a small personal size ice cream.

"It's nice... _cozy and posh._ " The taller brunette replies as she closes the door. She turns on her heels and gradually begins her way up the aisle as Aria tagged along. "My parents would probably love it here."

"Yeah, a lot of adults like to retire and watch their children grow here." Aria states in a response as they both approach the check-out counter.

"It definitely lives up to that description," Spencer slides her ice cream and small box of Advil across the counter as she steps and leans back to see the gum display in front of her. Skipping her eyes across the variety of choices, Spencer reaches for the green pack of spearmint Eclipse gum and adds it to her total. Waiting for Spencer to finish checking out, Aria observes her overall look as she stand in back of her. An oversized button up shirt with black, white and blue pinstripes adorned with brown leather belt tightly fastened around her waist. Her shirt drapes over her black skinny jeans that are ended with oxblood suede knee-high boots. Her brown hair falls down in waves that swings over her shoulder as she turns around to face Aria.

"You're going to check that out?" Spencer looks at Aria's drink as she clutches her small plastic bag in one hand with her change and receipt in the other.

"Oh! Yeah." Snapping out of her observational moment, Aria scoots up to the counter as she catches Spencer folding up her bills of change and putting them into her pocket.

"Maybe I…I can show you around sometime…?" Aria suggests aloud, getting Spencer's attention. "You know…take you to see the town."

Spencer nods her head with her eyes watchful and a smirk playing on her lips, "That'll be nice."

Aria smiles back as she collects her change from the cashier. "Keep the receipt." She waves him down before she walks towards the exit with Spencer holding the door open for her with her back against it. Aria digs into her purse for a phone as the two stand on the curb outside the gas station doors.

"So what's your number so we can work out a time that best fits?"

Looking down at Aria with crinkled eyes, Spencer gives her a small, cool grin, "If you can find me again….you can show me the town."

Aria arches an eyebrow and nervously laughs with a strained smile, tapping on her phone in total confusion. "What…? Haha, I…I don't-"

Spencer opens the plastic white bag in her hand and digs for one of the things she's brought as Aria still stands there clueless. She lifts her head to meet Aria's eyes as she extends her hand to her, "You still like ice cream, right?"

Aria glances down at and slowly accepts the ice cream gift as she examines the brand.

 **With a shopping basket filled with Red Bull, Twizzlers, and Ben Jerry's Ice Cream hanging off the crease of her left arm, Aria skims the condom section of the 'Personal Care' aisle.**

 **"Red Bull, Twizzlers, Ice cream and extra safe condoms." Spencer observes, "Planning a great night tonight, huh?" Spencer teases as Aria rises to her feet.**

Aria chuckles to herself before she looks back up at Spencer, nodding her head with enchantment, " _Ben Jerry's: Chunky Monkey_ The same ice cream I had with our... _unspeakable_ _incident_."

"Makes for the perfect gift." Spencer gives a small, tight lipped smile before she turns around in the opposite direction and walks towards her car parked right a few spaces away from the gas station entrance.

"Wait!" Aria calls out causing Spencer to stop and face her as she pulls out her car keys,

"How am I supposed to find you?"

"You know this place better than I do." Spencer replies with a lingering smirk, "If you really want to take me around, you'll know where to find me."

"Well, how long are you visiting for?" Aria presses on with a step made towards the other brunette.

Spencer stops getting in her car midway when she looks at Aria waiting hopefully for an answer. "…Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it."

Satisfied with her answer, Spencer gives Aria a final smile before she hops into her driver's seat and closes the door beside her. Aria watches Spencer start her off and drive out of her parking space and out of the gas station with a sense of confusion, not understanding how and where that conversation went. Looking back down at the ice cream that was given to her, Aria tosses it in the air with a catch coming down before she steps off the curb and towards her number five pump.

"It was very inviting to say the least. Actually, I like the campus and the professors."

"Yeah, well. I'm just glad it's all over with."

"It's not…. _over_ …" Ezra clenches his jaw as he leans his head back on the headrest of Aria's passenger seat, "They offered me a job."

A surprised smile crosses Aria's face as she leans closer into him, " _They did_?"

"Mm-hmm." He returns the smile.

"Well- _obviously_. Of course they did. They'd be crazy not to." Aria encouragingly looks onto Ezra as he cocks his head to the side to face her. "Wh-what did you say?"

"Uh... I haven't given them an answer yet." He lingers his words with sorrow in his voice as he eyes drifts to Aria's slightly confused yet still receptive face.

"Yet..?"

Ezra looks outward towards the windshield in front of him as his mouth awkwardly moves with no sound, trying to find the words he needs to use. "This job is an incredible opportunity for me, and if I don't take it, I might not get this chance again."

"I know it is but you still have Drew Universities' offer that's on the table. I mean, it is almost two hours away but we'll figure out a way around it like we always do."

Ezra holds his tongue for a moment as he stares at Aria. His eyes dart in front of him with the exhale of his breath. "I used to think that, and I'm not…." Ezra puts his eyes back on Aria's, "so sure any more." He states firmly yet cautiously.

Aria's pushes her neck to the side as her eyes can do nothing but blink at the blindside Ezra is pulling on her. "What are you...What are you saying?" A cleft formed between her eyebrows as the skin around her eyes drew tight.

"Are you...? _What are you trying to say, Ezra?"_

"No. Nono. I-" Ezra stops himself with a hang of his head. "Look, I love you and we've been making this work for a _long time_ , and..."

"And what?" Aria rises up defensively as the soft, happiness gets replaced but the rugged annoyance at Ezra's tip toe around the point. " _What_?"

"And-and as much as we love each other, I think we are deluding ourselves. Because-because of this." Ezra forces out all at once since being rushed along by Aria. He glances over at the brunette to catch her expression but is stared down by a teary-eyed girlfriend.

"I mean, this is a great thing for me here. Granted it's in Florida but…I don't want to go somewhere that I'm not 100% happy with and me having second thoughts of regret everyday just because I chose a school closer to you."

"Wha-?" Aria shakes her head as she tried to keep the tears from falling. Her mouth hung open, baffled and hurt by Ezra's words. "You would have regret towards me just because you go to Drew's? Ezra, how am I supposed be there for you when you're all the way in Florida?"

"We can do long-distance."

"Long distance for how long?" Aria pipes up as she readjusts herself in her car seat, "A year? _Two_? _Three_? The only time I can see you is during Christmas break? How is that even a relationship?"

"It can be!" Ezra fires back with his resonance of annoyance on his voice too. "But if you can't handle it then this won't work because…because I plan on taking the job."

Caught with another verbal right jab, Aria's eyebrows were raised with her mouth dropped.

"And you made this decision without telling me? Or even talking it with me?" Her voice cracks as much as she wished it not to. "Am I the last person who gets all this news?"

"I don't want to go to Drew's…. and-and I'm not."

With her eyes burning into his, Aria turns her face forward as a few tears drops from her eyes. Sitting in silence for a few long seconds, Ezra takes a deep breath in as he unlocks the car door.

"I've got class in a few minutes." he looks down at the door instead of Aria's face so he doesn't have to deal with the shame held with her. "I-I'll call you later."

And within seconds, Ezra was out of Aria's car and was on his way to walking through the parking lot of _The Brew_. Before he leaves her sight, Ezra takes one more look into Aria's car to see Aria staring dead at him with an overflow of tears rolling down her cheeks. Frowning, she lightly shakes her head at Ezra before wiping her eyes with her hand, putting her car in drive and drives out of the parking space, not wanting to see Ezra's pity party look.

 **If you guys haven't picked up already, I tweaked Spencer's overall personality juuuuust a smidge. She's still going to have that humor and intelligence that makes her Spencer but I wanted to a small veil over that, if you guys don't mind.**

 **I think it'll be just fine. :)**

 **This story oughta become interesting….**

 **Please, fav, follow, and review!**


	3. Tuesday: Town Tour

**To answer the question of a guest: This is a _Sparia_ story, However, the traces of Ezria will be apparent. But trust me, It's going to be hardly. :)**

Tuesday: Town Tour

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Leaning against the wall, staring out the window, Aria absentmindedly watches cars drive past her house as her mind plagues all over the thoughts that's running rampant in her head. Being with Ezra ever since she was in high school, her life basically revolved around him. She didn't mind it because she loved him but no matter how many times they have "broken up" during their course of knowing each other, you would think the pain would lose it's sting. But it doesn't. Because every separation bring them closer to the edge of completely falling off the cliff. In past times, after a break up, Aria would disconnect herself from everyone for a day or two as she reflects back on everything she has gone through with him but right now,

 _She's tired._

 _Just mentally and physically tired._

But, somewhere in the recollection of her past, her mind wonders to a particular face.

"Where would someone who's not from here go to pass time?" Aria questions aloud.

"Here?" Hanna's voice pans from the other end of the phone call, "Probably the town's center. Visitors would think it's _exciting_ but we both know it's not. Why you ask?"

Aria turns around from the sight of the window to her room's walls as she begins to play with the small necklace around her neck, "No reason."

Walking the semi-busy streets of downtown Rosewood, Aria's eyes stay peeled as she passes the small shops that make up the town's center. Slowing down, peeking through every open business, Aria tries to spy that familiar face through the crowds. Checking out almost every bakery, coffee shop, bookstore and places of the sort for about 20 minutes, Aria comes around Rosewood's Park where she decides to sit and take a rest from her sudden adventure.

 _Ok, I'm being ridiculous. I'm scouting this entire area for someone I've seen twice in my lifetime. This…I'm crazy. I'm being crazy._ Aria sighs to herself as the sun beats down on top of her. Running a hand back through her hair, Aria approaches a crosswalk and waits for the following car coming down to pass her. Holding out for a few seconds, Aria sees an opening and begins her walk towards the Park. As she holds up a hand to the car waiting for her pass, Aria's eyes catches a glimpse of someone in the far left behind the direction of where the car came from. Fitting what seems like the description of her mysterious visitor, Aria puts a pep in her step to cross the street. She doesn't know for sure if that's Spencer but it wouldn't hurt to find out.

Coming up from the side, the closer look of the giveaway height, hair and profile, Aria smiles to herself as she quietly moves towards the girl throwing bread pieces at the flock of birds in front of her.

" _Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it._ Wise words from Leonardo Da Vinci himself."

Turning her head to see Aria slowly walking towards her, Spencer chuckles to herself before she places attention back to the birds.

"Sounds like someone did their research."

"No need." Aria replies, standing next to her, "That man was a man of arts. _Last Supper, Vitruvian Man, The Battle of Anghiari_ …." Aria nonchalantly shrugs with a smile, "You could say we share some things in common."

Spencer cocked her head slightly to the side as she pouched out her lips, "Someone who knows more than Mona Lisa _. I'm impressed._ " She turns to look back at Aria, "Almost as impressed as to how you found me a day later."

"Well, Rosewood's not a big place. There is only but so many places you go as a visitor." Aria's lips quirked at the corners as she points in front of them, "Figured that you'd be somewhere chasing pigeons."

Spencer rips another piece of bread and throws it at the flock of greedy birds before she twists her whole body to face Aria with a small amused smile. "Looks like I owe you a small trip."

A grin creeps onto Aria's face as her eyes brighten, "Looks like you do."

Taking Spencer out of the commotion of downtown, Aria tours her around more of the "countryside". They walk down the streets of houses and old historic buildings, informing some facts she knows of her town. The two spend their afternoon making small talk and getting to know one another.

"What do you do for fun here, Aria?" Spencer asks as she focuses on her shoes.

"Honestly?" Aria takes a quick glance at Spencer before looking forward again, " _Shop_." She lets out a small laugh, "There's not much to do here. I have to go to different cities to have some kind of entertainment."

"Why don't you? Move to other cities?"

"I go to school here so…not much of an option to venture out."

"Hollis?" Spencer tilts her head, squinting from the sun as she looks at Aria walking beside her.

" _Yep_. Currently going after a bachelors In English."

"Do you like it there?"

"It's not bad." Aria bounces her head from side to side, "I like it for the most part."

"It's bad." Spencer nods as she looks forward down the street.

" _What_?" Aria beetled her forehead as she gave Spencer a short side-glance, "Why do you say that?

"When you go to a college- _a university_ and someone asks you about it and your response is, " _It's not that bad_..." - it _is_ bad. That is a place, somewhere you are choosing to spend another 4 to 8 years of your life. _Completely optional_. You should go to a school that makes you grateful for being able to have an experience with them. Not somewhere that you're content with because," Spencer shrugs with her mouth twisted to the side, " _It's just there_."

"Well, it's close to home." Aria tries to defend her choice of education as they continue to walk, "Fairly easy access to go back and forth."

Spencer shakes her head as she clicks her tongue, "Sounds like you're redoing high school to me."

"Do you have any place better for me to go?" Aria stops walking and puts her hands on her hips as she stares at Spencer who stops a few steps ahead of her.

"That's where you come in and think for yourself." Spencer spins in the direction of the smaller brunette stopped behind her. "Even if you rub my belly, I can't provide answers for you, Aria."

Aria lets out a small laugh of confusion as she narrows her eyes at the taller brunette, "Rub your belly?"

"Chinese proverb." Spencer gives off a small smile before she continues on their path and begins to walk ahead. Watching Spencer walking away, Aria's stare lingers on for a few seconds before she follows Spencer's lead.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you go to college?"

"I do."

"Where?"

"Somewhere that holds brilliance, ruined by snobbery, competition and insane pressure on students." Spencer holds her head up with a sway in her walk and boastful grin as she mocks the altered, typical description of her University.

"Distinctive not only for its high achievers but also another thing."

Walking in silence, waiting for the punchline, Aria extends her neck as she looks at Spencer to finish what she was saying, "…But also another _what_?"

"What do you think _what_ is?" Spencer challenges Aria with an arch of an eyebrow.

Aria ponders for a second before she replies with an answer, "Distinctive by its high achievers and… _location_?"

"Nope."

" _The alumni_?"

"Its high suicide and mental illness rates." Spencer replies with her lips curved in a little half-smile, "Although, I'm not sure if the enormous prestige makes up for all the suffering."

Stuck on the fences if Spencer was completely serious or not with such a grim response, she grimaced at her with one eye.

"And you chose to go to a school like that? _As an experience_?"

" _Precisely_ ," Spencer looks at Aria's confused expression with a bright smile. "With the acceptance rate of 18%, it's rated one of the five top best global universities."

Aria chuckles to herself as she observes Spencer's humor and atypical way of thinking.

Although it's different,

She won't lie.

It's definitely draws her attention.

Getting back to the center where Spencer's car was parked, Aria and Spencer loiter around the parking lot after their small walk around.

"I know it's wasn't much but…" Aria crosses her arms as she leans against Spencer's car. "this is where you planned to stay for your visitation _soooo_ ….thought you might enjoy to see what you're surrounded by."

"It's a nice scenery," Spencer nods as she looks around at the people minding their own business, going on with their day. "Nice and quiet community."

Aria nods in agreement as she looks down to the ground with silence. That awkward silence of not knowing what to say next. Spencer glances down on her and sucks in a breath.

"Would you like to go somewhere more _livelier_ than Rosewood?"

Aria raises her head to find Spencer awaiting an answer with a small but noticeable twinkle in her eye. "Um, s-sure." Aria fumbles out, "Where did you have in mind?"

" _Ooooh, somewhere.._." Spencer twists her body in a mockingly, innocent way, "Why don't you met me here again tomorrow? I have things I have to do throughout the day but if you can meet me, let's say, in the evening? five-sixish? Whatever is fine with you."

"Uhm, six." Aria agrees, "Six would be good."

"Great." Spencer smiles as she unlocks her car door and swings it open. She leans against the door as Aria looked onto her with curious, narrowed eyes. "What?" She asked, trying to hide her smile.

"What do you have planned, Spencer?"

"Come here at 6 and you'll find out, _Aria_." Spencer imitates her sentence structure as she emphasizes her name. Aria continues her stare down as a playful smirk creases on her lips. Spencer chuckles to herself as she waves to the smaller brunette.

" _Goodbye_."

" _Mhmmm_." Aria steps away from Spencer's car and watches her hop into her driver's seat, putting her keys in the ignition and starting her car.

Spencer rolls down her window and pokes her head out with a smile, "Thank you for showing me around, Ms. Aria. You were a marvelous tour guide. I'll be sure to write you a good review on Yelp." Spencer gives one more final wave of her fingers before she sits forward in her seat, switches gears, and pulls out of her parking space, leaving Aria behind in the rearview.

"Goodbye, Spencer."


	4. Wednesday: Night in the City

Wednesday: Night in the City

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Looking over herself in her closet mirror, Aria's drifts drift from her toes to her head as she takes in the outfit she's decided to put on. Wearing a white shirt with a sparkly black _F_ in the middle covered with a denim jean jacket, she tries on the look with black, cracked patent skirt with flats. She stares at herself for a few more minutes before she takes off the denim jacket.

Going back to the mirror for a second time, Aria tries a simpler look with her choice of a short, paisley, scuba print, sleeveless dress. She styles the dress with a black waist belt and black heels to complete her attire. The brunette turns around to look at herself from the side and back before she groans, taking off her belt as she stomps away from the mirror.

Going to her third outfit choice, Aria fluffs her hair as she adjusts the sleeves on her faux leather military jacket. Keeping it causal for this choice, she wears a grey neck crop top with black high waisted jeans to show just a little bit of skin. With black boots and minimal accessories to accompany, Aria frowns as she glances over her complete packaged outfit. She begins to remove her jacket when she stops mid-process.

 _Wait, this is ridiculous. Why am I being indecisive like a love-struck teenage girl going on her first date?_

Aria readjusts her jacket and smooths out her jeans as she tilts her head to the side. _This is fine. I'm sticking with this outfit. I'm not going to change again._ Hearing her phone beep out a notification with the completion of charging, Aria walks over to her bed, unlocks her phone, and opens her text messages to text Spencer that she's on her way. Halfway through writing her text, the reminder of the lack of contact information rings into Aria's head as she remembers that she doesn't even have Spencer's number. _Oh, that's just grand._ Aria sighs to herself. Taking her phone off the charger, grabbing her keys off her dresser and swinging her black purse over her shoulder, Aria looks in the mirror one last time before she walks out of her room and to Rosewood's town center.

Driving her car to an open parking spot in a public lot surrounded by neighboring stores, Aria waits in the area she promised to meet Spencer yesterday. Aria shifts her gear up to park and sits in the driver's seat with her eyes sweeping the area for her taller brunette friend. Not seeing anyone and not being able to reach Spencer other than with the hope of mental thinking, Aria patiently leans back into her chair, only hoping that Spencer didn't forget about her and that she wouldn't be stood up.

"And that was Bruno Mars with " _Locked out Of Heaven"_. That is, easily, one of my favorite records from Mr. Soul himself." A male voice talks over the fading record as Aria is fully engaged with her phone, still waiting for Spencer 10 minutes later, "If you ask me, his Super Bowl performance last year was one of the best NFL performances of all time right behind Michael Jackson."

"I think that was the smartest thing you've said all day, Jay." Another voice, this time female, takes over the radio, "And for those of you who don't know, Bruno Mars has been asked to perform _again_ for Super Bowl 50 next year in 2016. I don't think anyone has ever performed solo twice at the Super Bowl. He was _that good!_ "

"Ha! Take _that_ , Beyoncé!" The radio hosts glitch out with their outro before commercials start playing on the waves. Looking at the time on her display screen and sighing, Aria leans her head to the side and looks out her window just in time to see Spencer walking out of an eatery with an older, suited gentlemen. The brunette sits up straight and turns off her car ignition before she grabs her purse and hops out of her car door, waiting to get Spencer's attention. Spencer gives the man her final salutations, prompting him to split into the opposite direction. Looking across the street, ready to cross, Spencer turns her head and does a double take as she sees Aria standing beside her car, waving her over. Spencer waits for her opening and walks across the street into Aria's direction with a surprised, smug expression.

"You came."

"And you're _late_." Aria crosses her arms with her weight shifted onto one leaning leg.

Spencer scoffs as she looks around her surroundings, "Time is simply an illusion. I'm never late."

" _Mhmm_ …." Aria tilts her head up with an arched eyebrow, "Sounds like something a late person would say."

"So..." Spencer rocks on the heels of her feet, "you're ready to go?"

"Depends. Where are we going?"

"Depends. Do you trust me?"

Aria pinches her eyebrows and narrows her eyes at the brunette in front of her with a slight stir as a smile, "I don't even know you enough _to_ trust you."

"Even more the reason to run off. " Spencer smiles as she looks down upon Aria, " _C'mon Aria._ Let a stranger that you've only met three times take you away from the small Rosewood life to an unknown location where nobody knows where you are.Dressing in a silk white, buttoned up top with pleated cuffs rolled up her forearms, Spencer's blouse is tucked into her black lacey shorts where a golden Hermes belt and black flats complete her attire. Spencer holds onto the strap of her yellow over the shoulder purse, awaiting the smaller brunette's response.

"Doesn't sound like such a good idea when put that way…" Aria breathes out with her arms still crossed in front of her chest.

Spencer turned her head to one side but kept her eyes on Aria, "If it sounded like a bad idea, why are you here?"

Aria opens her mouth to formulate an answer but gets stuck with the absence of sound leaving her throat. Getting stuck with the question, Spencer nods her head, hearing Aria loud and clear. Before anything else could be said, a taxi pulls up in front of the shop Spencer left out of earlier. Catching the cab from the corner of her eye, Spencer turns back to Aria, "Well... let's head out, yeah?" Spencer wasn't able to put one foot out to walk away without Aria stopping her with a touch to the arm.

"Wait, you…you called a cab?"

"Mhmm."

"Why?"

"You're not going to want to take your car where we're going." Spencer replies back to the still confused brunette. Spencer cocks her head towards the awaiting vehicle, "Don't worry about it. Come on."

Quickly contemplating in her head if she should go or not, Aria takes a last glance at her car before taking the dive and getting into the back of the taxi with Spencer, allowing her to lead her to wherever she has planned.

Aria gazes out the window of the cab and watches the last fragments of the sun hiding behind the horizon before it disappears and becomes replaced by darkness and the night sky and city lights. " _Philly?_ " Aria looks over at Spencer with a perplexed face still sitting on her, "You wanted to take me to Philadelphia?"

"I take it you've been here before…" Spencer responds as she keeps her eyes lingering out the window.

"Yes. I mean, pretty much but not that often…"

Spencer turns in Aria's direction, peeling herself away from the window, "Well, you've never came here with me so technically…. this is your first experience."

The taxi driver pulls over to an opening of the side of the street, puts the car on park and turns his head behind him with the flashing red counter flickering on the dashboard. "$51.61"

"$50 for a taxi ride? We could have taken my car for free." Aria whispers as Spencer looks into her wallet to pay the fare.

"I told you your car won't be needed, didn't I?" Spencer turns back to the driver and pays his tab before she opens the cab door and climbs out.

"Thanks," Aria politely thanks the driver before she gets out as well. Closing the door behind her, she steps onto the curb and watches the taxi pull out and blend in with the rest of the city traffic, " _So…._ what is your first order of business, _Spencer_?"

"I think the universe just keeps putting you in my path. First the pharmacy, the gas station, and then the park," Spencer walks besides Aria as they wander down the lively sidewalk of the city, "it's like you're relentless."

Aria's mouth hangs open as she looks at Spencer with amused disbelief, " _I'm_ relentless? You're making it seem like I'm stalking you!"

"I think you are," Spencer replies back with a small smirk, keeping her eyes ahead of her.

"Yeah, ok." Aria scoffs with a roll of her eyes, "I don't even know your number. How am I supposed to find you if I'm so _relentless?_ "

"How do you think our parents felt? Our grandparents? Our _great grandparents_!" Spencer explain as she walks backwards in front of Aria, "Even _Jesus_! Do you think he just told his disciples, _"Hey, text me in the group chat tomorrow. We're going to the Sea of Galilee and I'm gonna walk on the water. Peter, you better bring a life jacket because you're gonna be the first one drowning."_ Noooo. You had to learn how to _communicate_ like humans not robots."

"But we're not in my parents, grandparents or Jesus' era." Aria giggles at Spencer clarification, "We live today. Where _phone communication_ saves lives. Peter could have avoided the potential drowning if someone would have shot him a quick text beforehand." Spencer chuckles, shaking her head at Aria's comeback as they keep walking to nowhere in particular, "Besides, don't you want to have at least some kind of idea who I am?" Aria tilts her head to look at Spencer with searching eyes, trying to read her indecipherable facial expressions, "Because, I could be this really psychotic person that preys on newcomers in the community. I look fun and innocent at first then _bam_." Aria loudly claps her hands together, "You're never to be seen again."

The taller brunette smiles to herself and shakes her head, keeping her eyes forward, "Normally when we meet someone, we immediately look them up, find their Social Medias and learn everything about them right then and there. What ever happened to getting to know someone the old-fashion way?"

"You seem to really like old-fashioned way of things."

"Only because it makes things fun," Spencer's eyes drift to the corners to look at Aria with a sly smile before she puts her sights back to the environment around her, " _Besides_ , I have an idea of who you are."

"Someone that buys condoms for their brother and likes chunky monkey ice cream?" Aria answers back sarcastically.

"Well, you do rack up a good first impression, Aria Montgomery."

" _Wooooah_." Aria stops in her traveling with her mouth hung open and her eyes crinkled at Spencer. "I never told you my last name. Where did you find this out?"

Spencer nonchalantly shrugs as she stops walking as well, "I just asked if anyone knew who an ' _Aria_ ' was"

"Talk about me stalking _you!_ " A deep crease appeared on her forehead as Aria slowly begins walking again with her arms crossed, "You're over here asking people about me!"

"No, not people." Spencer shakes her finger, correcting the accusations coming from the smaller brunette, " _A_ person. Singular. I had to make sure that this ' _Aria_ girl' wasn't some psychotic person that preys on newcomers in the community."

 **Spencer stirs her coffee before she raises it to her lips, looking at the two men in their early 30's sitting front of her over the brim of the cup, "So, do any of you know of an** ** _Aria_** **around here?"**

" **Aria?" The first guy ponders in thought of Spencer's off-topic questioning, "Hmmm, well that's not a common name if I had heard it. Can't say that I do."**

" **Wait, are you talking about that** ** _Aria_** **girl who was around the rumor mill some years ago?" The second male speak up on behalf of his colleague.**

 **Spencer's eyebrows flicks up as she sets her coffee down on the table, her interest being peaked with this sudden information, "** ** _Rumor mill?_**

" **Oh yes,** ** _Aria Montgomery._** **" The first guy recalls as he smooths out his tie and leans back into his chair, "Her father taught at Hollis. She definitely is a smart girl, however, some odd years ago, rumors started spreading that she was dating her high school teacher while he was still teaching at the school."**

" **She was about 16 and he was what? 23, 24?" The second guy confirms the recalls the events.**

" **Yeah, so as it starting brewing, he resigned from the school and started teaching at the college. Then when she became 18, news was up and running again because her and her ex-teacher became public."**

" **As if we didn't already know that they were doing** ** _some extra credit activities_** **behind closed doors for the prior two years." The two guys share a laugh as Spencer looks down at her coffee, slowly nodding to herself as she pouts impressively.**

"That's the disadvantages of living in a town like Rosewood." Spencer comes down from her reflection as she glances up at the night sky, "Everyone knows everything about everyone and everything."

"Well what else do you know about me?" Aria questions with sarcasm in her voice, "Do you know my mother's maiden name and social as well?

"Give me some time and I'll be able to collect all of that." Spencer smiles to herself.

"But seriously, what else do you know?"

"Nothing. Just that your name is Aria Montgomery and you're dating your former high school teacher." A sigh sounds from Aria prompting Spencer to take a glance over at her, "You just leaped for the big dogs, huh? Just went straight to the source."

" _Dated_. Past tense." Aria's once tickled face drops down a few degrees as her eyes sweep the cemented grounds, "We're no longer together."

"Oh?" Spencer arched an eyebrow, "You guys broke up?"

"Yeah, recently as of matter of fact."

"I'm sorry." Spencer lowers her eyes with apologetically, "He didn't cheat on you did he?"

"No, it's nothing like that. It's just…..other complications. I've been with him for so long, I kind of forgot what it's like to be without him." Aria's frowns to herself as her voice lowers, "How to live without him..." Spencer's sights focus ahead of her as she subtly shakes her head. A gesture Aria catches onto, "What?"

"It's nothing. I…I just don't like that."

"Don't like what?"

"When older guys date younger girls. Impressible younger girls. And you just validated why."

"How?"

Spencer waits until they are stopped at a crosswalk light before she turns to face her, "You've been with him since you were 16, correct?"

"Yeah…" Aria drags out the words not sure where Spencer was going to take that information.

"And I bet you've been all about him. Not being able to live your young life because you're being tied down to someone who's older." Spencer explains as she presses the pedestrian crossing button, "You have to mature yourself faster just to be able to stay on his level and not be deemed as " _immature_ " and it's unfair. Being immature is the part of growing up. He's already lived his life at your age, doing whatever he wanted to do. But there you are, being groomed by someone so long that you quote, _forgot how to live without him_."

"He doesn't _groom_ me." Aria defensively holds her ground and protects Ezra from Spencer's drawn out criticisms. "I could do whatever I want. I'm not _married_ to him."

"When was the last time you did something fun?" Spencer carefully challenges Aria, " _Truly_ fun? By yourself, without him?" With the sign changing from stop to walk, Aria contemplates a validated answer but takes a second too long before the silence renders Spencer to mentally prove herself right.

"He's not a bad guy. _At all_." Aria speaks up as they both cross the street, intersecting with people coming from the other side, "I've had some of my best life experiences with him and he's taught me so much. More than my own parents sometimes. He's easily one the most _incredible, caring,_ just overall amazing person I've ever met."

"What's his name?" Spencer asks as she focuses her eyes to something ahead of her in the distance.

"Ezra." Aria responds with her voice hunkered down in memory of what their last conversation was. On the emotions she was feeling before Spencer came in the picture, "I really do care about him because…. _because_ _I love him_."

"Well, I bet Ezra is a really good guy," Spencer validates her suspicion as she sees people and hears faint music making its way to where she was, "But let's forget about him and enjoy the night while we're here, ok?" Before Aria could utter another word, Spencer grabs Aria's wrist and pulls her towards the festival set up some ways away from them.

Walking close to the entrance of the busy festival, the girls notice the walkthrough area where they have to pay. "Hm." Spencer observes the location, "A _Food and Wine_ Festival. Jackpot." Spencer smiles to herself as Aria places a different kind of concern on her face.

"How are we going to get in? I didn't bring money to go to a festival."

Spencer agrees with Aria's settlement as she subtly scouts out the place in hopes of finding a pass or an opening to get through. Hearing a loud group of what seems to be a pack of friends come up from behind them, Spencer gives Aria a knowing look before she lets them pass and then discreetly follows behind the group as if she was a part of the cluster.

"What are we doing?" Aria whispers as she walks closely next to Spencer.

"Just follow my lead."

Continuing on behind the crowd, Spencer tries to walk as close as she can to the oblivious group as they walk through the entrance.

"We left a few minutes ago to retrieve something from our car. I think her name was Janet? Yeah, we told Janet we would be right back." One of the group members informs the entrance keeper in the front. Allowing them entry, Spencer pretends to talk to Aria as she keeps her face away from the attendant and her feet moving fast with the group. After a few seconds of the charades, Aria and Spencer found themselves inside of a busy and packed outside festival without having to pay for a ticket. The two girls dip away from the group and move to the side to collect themselves and to come up with a game plan. Aria sees a pamphlet on the ground and picks it up, examining it over.

 _2015 PHILADELPHIA WINE FOOD FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY LEXUS._

"Oh my god." Aria gasps, getting Spencer attention to glance over at her. "General tickets were $135 per person. And VIP was $232!" Aria looks up at Spencer with an opened mouth and widen eyes. She hands over the pamphlet to Spencer as she runs her hand through her hair, looking around at the event, "There is at least 500 people in here. What are we going to do?"

"When in Rome," Spencer overlooks the flyer, "Do as the romans. And the romans say drink."

Hopping from one booth to another, Spencer and Aria try different glasses of wine from all over the world. Some are tart, some are sweet, some are nauseating, and some are so good, they kept making their rounds over and over.

"Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino. An elegant, award winning Brunello. Aged 2 years in barriques and 2 years in this bottle." The wine representative shows off the 750 ml bottle to the tasters, "A richly rewarding, and world renowned vintage wine. Being the first winery in the world recognized for exceptional environmental, social ethical responsibility leadership in customer satisfaction. Product of Italy."

Blending in with the rest of the crowd, Spencer and Aria take a sample of the wine and ponder the taste. "Hmm, Montgomery," Spencer speaks in her best impression of an English accent, "What do you think about Castello Banfi? Rather fruity, wouldn't you agree?"

"Ah," Aria follows Spencer lead with a little flair of her own, "You hit the nail right on the head with this one, Spencer. Vanilla with hints of licorice."

"Licorice, yes."

"But something I wouldn't buy for the collection at home."

"Oh no, this wouldn't fit with the likes of our bottles at home." Spencer agrees as they continue to walk the grounds of the busy convention. "But you know what would?"

"What, darling?" Aria sways to the side, flipping her hair over her shoulders.

"Dow's. I think we should revisit the booth, yes?"

"Yes." Aria smiles at Spencer and their mini act, "Yes we shall."

The two girls waltz back to the booth to where a man is talking about the history of his wine. When the crowd moves onto another vendor, he sees Spencer and Aria approaching.

"If I had to guess based on tonight, I would say you two are Dow's biggest fans." An older, well-dressed bald man welcomes them over to his stand, "I believe I've seen you guys about three times now! Counting this visit!"

"Oh," Aria takes a quick glance at the man's name tag, " _Richard_. It's because this wine is absolutely magnificent." She teases with a soft smile.

"You can't dare hang us for being so _intrigued_." Spencer adds in to the harmless flirtation.

"Of course not!" Richard extends out his arms in happiness with his eyes squinting from his smiling, "I love your interest in our wine."

"Then be a good man and pour us another sample." Spencer winks at the man as she points to the display wine.

"Right away," The representative smiles as he pours a decent amount of wine into his short wine glasses, "May I offer you two beautiful women in purchasing your own bottle? You can swoon your own crowd at any home gathering."

"How much for a bottle?" Aria asks as Richard hands her and Spencer the drink.

Richard crouches down and picks up a brand new _Dow's Vintage Port 2011_ for Spencer and Aria to see, "We normally sell it for $249.99 but since I love seeing such smiles on your faces, I'll give it to you for $199."

Spencer takes a sip of the wine, "You sure know how to drive a bargain."

"I love to see my customers satisfied."

"But we're not just _any_ customers of yours, are we Richard?" A smirk drives on Aria's face as she leans in closer to the table booth.

"You're my favorite ladies of the night!" Richard exclaims with a beaming smile causing all three of them to laugh in unison. Spencer pretends to pat herself down and checks her purse.

"Dammit." She sighs out, "You wouldn't be privy to credit cards, would you?"

"Unfortunately not." Richard tsks with a strain in his smile.

"Looks as if we need to find an ATM." Aria checks the contents of her purse as well, looking up at Spencer with a frown.

"Uhm," Richard looks around, "You have a Wells Fargo Bank across the street if you don't mind the small walk."

"Well, a small walk never killed anyone." Spencer looks at Aria and starts fake laughing, with the smaller brunette quickly joining in.

"Right!" Richard claps his hands together in bliss, "Take your time, we close at 11pm. And we'll be here tomorrow."

"Alright, Richard!" Aria readjusts her purse on her shoulder as she and Spencer begin to slowly walk away, "Don't forget about us!"

"I could never!"

Aria and Spencer laugh, wave and walk away from the booth, taking another sip of their glass. "Just keep walking with a smile." Spencer whispers to Aria as they walk past the crowd towards the exit of the convention. Fast pacing past incoming walkers, they make a clean getaway into the busy street of downtown.

"That was perfect!" Aria breathes out a laugh, looking at Spencer with an amazed smile.

"And we managed to get free drinks," Spencer chuckles as she takes a sip of her wine.

"That's a good _fucking_ night."

"Oh," Spencer swallows down, "The night as just begun. We still have some things to do."

Aria curiously tilts her head at the taller brunette with furrowed eyebrows, "Like what?"

"Don't worry about it," Spencer carefully nudges Aria with a mischievous smile, "Just drink and let's go!"

Walking, laughing and overly enjoying themselves, Spencer and Aria come across the popular Rittenhouse Square Park where, although it's night, it has a nice amount of people having fun and in their own private world. The two stop by a vendor cart and ask for two plastic cups to put their wine in, since they still have a considerate amount left, walking around the city with glass in their hand. Doing their liquid exchange and discarding the glass. An overthrown Frisbee heads for Aria's direction when Spencer quickly intercepts before it had the chance to hit.

"Hey!" A young guy runs up to the girls with a wave of his hand, "So sorry about that. I guess I put too much power behind my throw."

"Oh, it's okay," Aria gives off a small smile to the stranger as she adjusts her hair.

"So-uh-" The young guy looks around with his hands on his hips, "You guys know how to toss?"

Aria glances up at Spencer with an unknowing look of continuous before turning back to the guy, "A little bit, yeah."

"Then come join us!" He extends his arms as an invitation, "Don't tell the other guys but," He leans in for a whisper, "they are nowhere near as pretty as you two." With no laughter coming out of Spencer, she smiles with her eyes as Aria chuckles, looking around, not trying to make much eye contact. "What do you say? A quick game of Frisbee?"

"Well," Aria glances back at Spencer once more who gives a subtle but nonchalant shrug as a response back, "What the hell." Aria turns to the awaiting male, " _Sure_. Why not."

The guy flashes a smile at the girls and leads them to the more open, grassier area of the park where three other guys awaited to continue their game. Introducing themselves to the small group, a game of Frisbee is initiated and the girls join in the fun. Splitting up into a group of two, Aria and Spencer play on opposite teams that they toss the Frisbee at their teammates like a game of football. With drinks in one hand and using their free one to dominate in the sport, the girls run around catching the Frisbee, tossing it to their team members, all while avoiding being bum rushed by the opponent. Taking sips of their wine throughout, they could admit that it's slowly starting to get to them. Within a few instance, Spencer would purposely target Aria, chasing her around, making her fumble her catches/passes, and giving her the hardest time out of fun. Although the guys would try to get handsy with trying to friendly grapple the girls, Aria and Spencer weren't as enthusiastic as much as Spencer wrapping her free arm around Aria's waist and spinning her around just to miss her open pass.

"That's cheating!" Aria huffs as she tucks a strand behind her ear. She runs after Spencer who has her eyes on her teammate with the Frisbee.

"I'm open!" Spencer projects her voice to the passer as she does twists and turns to avoid Aria's tackle, "She's too small to catch me! Toss it!"

The guy tosses the Frisbee in Spencer's direction, making Spencer backup a few feet to time the catch just right. Reaching out for the disk, Aria comes from behind the brunette and jumps up, intercepting the pass with a smack to the Frisbee.

" _Oooooh_!" Aria taunts Spencer by getting in her face, making Spencer giggle at the sight, "To short to _what?!_ You just got owned!"

"Calm down, Rumpelstiltskin." Spencer deflects the pointing of Aria's finger in her face, "Nobody offered you their first boy, yet."

"Screw you, Spencer." Aria laughs as she playfully shoves the brunette.

After about 20 minutes of playing around with the group of guys, the girls start dwindling down with preparations to leave.

"Aww! But we were having fun!" The first guy they met begins to whine at their dismissal.

"It was nice but it's time for us to head out." Spencer walks over to a nearby trashcan to throw away her cup with Aria following behind before she turns back to the guys with a wave, "We'll see you guys around."

"How will we be able to see you guys again?" Another guy speaks up as he lifts up his hat, scratching his head underneath before readjusting is cap.

Aria takes a glance at Spencer, "If you really want to see us again, you'll know where to find us." Aria turns back to the guys with a sly smirk. Spencer starts laughing at Aria's choice of words as Aria interlocks their arms, waving her fingers at the guys who were left behind with their groans. Getting to the main street, Aria pulls out her phone and checks the time, "Wow, it's almost 9:30."

"Well…" Spencer fixes her clothes from the rough playing, "I wonder what else this night as to offer us."

Looking out down their sidewalk, Aria spots something in the distance: An approaching bus getting ready to stop at its appointed bus stop. "How fast can you run?"

"Huh?" Spencer looks at Aria confused, not understand what she's asking.

Aria takes a quick peek at Spencer's shoes. _Flats_.

"Run."

"Why am I-" Aria takes off running, cutting Spencer off mid-sentence. Seeing the smaller brunette dashing down the sidewalk, Spencer chases after her, not knowing exactly why or where she's running to but is determined to not be left behind. Aria bypasses slow walkers, dipping in, out and between people causing Spencer to have a harder time to catch up being stuck with Aria's obstacles.

"Excuse me-Excuse me!" Aria rushes past people as she nears the bus. With Spencer being closer behind her, Aria makes it to the back of the bus, slipping by a group of people getting out of the rear doors before they closed. With her feet moving so fast, as soon as she jogs up the bus stairs, she slams herself into the empty bench of blue and steel seats across from the door with Spencer following suit. Breathing hard with their chests rising and falling extremely quickly, other riders look at the girls crazily at their random act. Knowing what she did was bold and unlike her, with the people staring, Aria looks straight ahead through the bus windows, giggling silently to herself. Still trying to catch her breath, Spencer gazes at Aria with pure and utter amazement.

"You know….the next time we do that….at least give me a five seconds head start….I almost killed a child back there."

Aria begins to uncontrollably snicker which makes Spencer being to giggle as well. With the amount of noise coming from their horrible attempt to stop themselves from laughing, people glower at them even harder. _Damn kids. Probably on drugs._

Getting herself under control, Aria lays her head on Spencer's shoulder as they both watch the bus move with a tired smile on their faces.

"Where are we going?" Spencer whispers.

Aria shakes her head as her smile continued to grow on her face, "I have no fucking idea."

After riding around on the bus for about 15 minutes, getting ready for another stop, Spencer pulls down the bell chord, prompting the bus driver to stop on 132 S 17th St. Hearing the bell begin rung by Spencer, Aria looks up confused as the bus begins to stop. Getting off the bus, they join the filled sidewalks in the heat of the night in a different part of the city. Spencer turns to look at Aria who still holds a sense of confusion to her face, "Feeling hungry?"

"Yeah…" Aria nods as she moves her hair to the side, "Yeah, actually."

Sitting on the stoop of an establishment, watching everyone pass them by, Spencer eats her Coney classic with sauerkraut and spicy mustard while Aria starts to dive into her vegan hot dog with yellow mustard, relish, dill pickle spear that they brought from a hotdog shop.

"Out of everyone on this street," Spencer shallows down her bite, "which person would you choose to kiss?

Aria scans the street and surrounding sidewalks to find her lucky choice. After long silent seconds of looking around, she sees a guy looking down at his phone waiting for the light to turn green to walk. "That one." She points with the nod of her head, "Standing at the crosswalk with the red button up. He's cute. I like his hair."

"All it takes is hair for you, huh?"

" _Shut up_. Ok, mine turn." Aria ponders for a moment, before she takes a bite of her hotdog, "What is one incident that you regret to this day? "

Spencer thinks long and hard about Aria's question as she takes a sip of her sprite. "This little… _thing_ that happened between me and my sister's finance. Although he was totally in the wrong because I was merely still in high school and he was older than me, we kissed and she saw it." Aria's eyebrow raises up as she chews on her food, interested in some kind of backstory from the mysterious stranger she's been hanging around, "Although time has passed and things have moved on, I don't think she fully forgives me for it. She might say she does but…" Spencer shakes her head, looking out into the street, "I know she doesn't."

Aria slowly nods to herself, not knowing how to respond to that so she keeps silent and continues eating.

"You're at your house with your family and it catches on fire." Spencer take the silence as an opportunity to ask her question, "If you were rescuing everyone but you had to leave one behind, who would it be?"

Aria sucks in a deep breath as her face took on a pondering air. Looking over at Aria, trying to read her facial expression, she watches Aria's muscles draw the skin around her eyes tight in thought. "Dammit, that's a hard question." Aria shakes her head as she takes another bite of her food.

"It is."

Aria takes on several more moments to fully think out her answer, "I love everyone so much. I absolutely adore my family. _So much_. But...if I had to choose…" Aria waits for a second, "it would be my dad. He cheated on my mom with one of his students and that just broke my family. Even though everyone is still at home, it hasn't been like one big happy family ever since, you know."

"I do know." Spencer nods her head, making eye contact with Aria as she turned to face her, "I found out one of my friends is my step-sister because my dad couldn't keep it in his pants."

Aria leans down to bring her soft drink to her lips, "Fuckin' dads."

"Fuckin' dads."

Finishing up their food stop, Aria and Spencer stand up and proceed to throw their wrappers away, still holding onto their drinks.

"Ok, I have something to tell you." Spencer turns to Aria who's dusting off the back of her pants.

"What?"

"I don't stay in Rosewood like I made you to believe. I'm actually out here in the city for my stay." Spencer carefully looks at Aria for some kind of reaction, "The hotel was prepaid by the powers that be so, if I'm in Rosewood, it's because I'm there voluntarily. Once it was for a meeting but mostly voluntary."

"You _sly dog._ " Aria crosses her arms with her mouth left open, "So you mean my Rosewood tour was all for nothing?"

"No,' Spencer laughs as she shoves her hands into her pockets, "I mean, I actually learned a few things from your little tour. Very informative. _But_ …" Spencer sways from side to side as she looks up at the night sky, "It's getting pretty late. Maybe it's time we call it a night?"

"Yeah, you're right." Aria pulls out her phone to see that it's well past 10 and she should be getting home. "This was fun, though. It was very refreshing."

"I'm glad I was able to do that for you." Spencer looks at Aria with a soft smile. "Why don't you give me your number and I'll help with your fare back home."

"Sounds like a considerable trade." Aria laughs as Spencer waves down a taxi sitting down the street from them. The cab driver sees Spencer's indication and pulls forward to them, rolling down his window.

"Where you off to?"

"Rosewood. " Spencer leans towards the window so he can hear her, "You think you could do a drive out there?"

"Yeah, yeah. No problem." He waves Spencer into the taxi.

Spencer stands up straight and digs into her purse for her wallet. "So, your number?"

"Yeah, just waiting for your phone so I could put it in."

Spencer pulls out a crisp $50 bill and turns to Aria, "Oh, I don't have my phone on me. Just tell me it and I'll remember."

"What?" Aria leans back with a laugh, "Are you for real?"

"Yeah." Spencer nods, giving her a serious look, "Don't worry, I have a pretty good memory with numbers. Hit me."

Aria stands there stuck in her expression, waiting for Spencer to say she was joking. After a few seconds, she realizes that she was completely serious, "Okay…" Aria awkwardly laughs. She gives Spencer her number with the brunette reciting it back afterwards, "Yep. That's where you can reach me at."

Spencer hands Aria the $50 who ultimately denies taking that much from her. "It's fine. The cab is on me." Spencer assures her. She recites Aria's number again as she opens the back door for her, allowing her to slip in. Making sure she's securely in, Spencer shuts the door as Aria rolls down the window. "Have a safe night's sleep, Aria." Spencer waves her goodbyes to the brunette.

"Wait!" Aria hugs against the door, "You have my number but I don't have yours."

"You don't need it." Spencer gives one last smile at Aria before she taps on the roof of the taxi, signaling the driver the green light for his departure. Before Aria could say anything else, the driver puts his car into drive and comes off the curb, ready to merge into the street with the rest of the flow of traffic. On a green light with nobody coming in his direction, he puts on the gas and begins driving off. Aria quickly turns around and looks through the back window where she sees Spencer standing on the corner sidewalk, waving at her as they separates. Aria stares out the window until Spencer was no longer visible before she turned around to sit correctly in her seat. Aria looks down at the $50 in her hand and smiles to herself.

 _Goodnight, Spencer._

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